Op.10 No.1
Op.10 No.4
Op.25 No.6
Op.25 No.11

Do you agree?

OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD... Not another one of these threads...

You've already stated this previously:

In a thread entitled "3 most difficult Chopin etudes"... WHY MAKE ANOTHER ONE???

It will be "5 most difficult Chopin etudes" next.

Thal

But I wonder, is the winter wind really that hard?

I began working on 25/11 because it seemed like a good candidate to test C.C. Chang’s advice concerning “parallel sets” (in his Fundamentals of Piano Practice).  I found that the patterns fit my hands very comfortably, which made it easier to bring up to speed than many of Chopin’s other fast-tempo etudes.  It surprises me that it is invariably included on a typical short list of the “most difficult” ones.

Ah, that's an easy one to answer. The first four in Op. 10, then the next four and the next four and the first four in Op. 25 and the next four and the next four. The other three are fortunately somewhat easier.

Best,

Alistair

op. 10/1, op. 10/2, op. 25/6 - the most difficult but... all Chopin's etudes is crazy.

None of them is "crazy"! Difficult, yes, but not "crazy". They are fundaments of pianism.

Best,

Alistair

you don't understand what I mean. perhaps my english is incomprehensible. I agree ! all etudes is difficult, but not all equally difficult.

Your English is fine, emilye. Some people just have nothing better to do than act like an old pregnant dog.

Some people just have nothing better to do than act like an old pregnant dog.

Is that so? Well, I suppose that you would know, but I am not convinced that this fact of itself confers upon you any obligation to do so - and, in any case, it would be hard to imagine "people" (plural) acting like a single dog...

Anyway, never mind that; let's get back to Chopin!

Best,

Alistair

Op.10 no.1?
No! In my opinion:
op.10 no.2
op.10 no.4
op.25 no.6
op.25 no.11

You should probably know how to play arpeggios really well first...and broken four note chords.

This etude is weird, because you always have the pinky preceding the thumb (except for a few bars in the middle) going up, and the thumb preceding the pinky coming down.  It makes it much easier for me to shuffle my hand along the 'arpeggios'... There really isn't a 'thumb over/under' like conventional arpeggios.

This etude obviously will have technical bits someone learning it will not have seen, but I don't think you could learn this without having played arpeggios before.